spite

CEFRB2

/spaɪt/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A desire to hurt or annoy someone because of anger.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    To treat maliciously; to try to hurt or thwart.

Examples

  • I'm sure he only said it out of spite.

  • In spite of the rain, we enjoyed our holiday.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Vexation; chagrin; mortification.

  2. Ill will or hatred toward another, accompanied with the desire to unjustifiably irritate, annoy, or thwart; a want to disturb or put out another; mild malice

verb

Extra meaning

  1. To fill with spite; to offend; to vex.

More examples

In context

  • We played golf in spite of the rain.

  • He was so filled with spite for his ex-wife, his brother was afraid of what he might do.

  • She soon married again, to spite her ex-husband.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

He broke her favorite vase out of pure blank, just to make her cry.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English spit, a shortening of despit (whence despite), from Old French despit, from Latin dēspectum (“looking down on”), from Latin dēspiciō (“to look down, despise”). Compare also North Frisian spīt, spīd (“regret”), Saterland Frisian Spiet (“regret, remorse”), West Frisian spyt (“regret”), Dutch spijt (“regret, remorse”), German Low German Spiet (“anger, regret, remorse”), German Spiet (“annoyance, vexation”), Swedish spit (“insult, outrage, annoyance”), Norwegian spit (“insult, outrage, annoyance”).